Osaka餓鬼
by Jayut
Summary: The streets of Osaka are rocky ones. With multiple gangs of ghouls on the prowl, the city will become divided and the people will never be the same. SYOC -closed-
1. New Foe Arc Part 1

New Foe Arc: Part One

Right, left, and another right down an alleyway in Namba, Osaka will lead you to a door. Above the door a camera. In the door is my abode and workstation.

I'm Kanie Moto, an info broker… also a real estate agent? I guess I count as one. Nothing too abnormal yet right? Well my clients are almost completely ghouls.

You see, I'm always the second to know about ghoul activities, the CCG's activities, and whatevers relevant enough to make me money. I've lived in Osaka almost all of my life. I know it's ins and outs. The worst and the best of this city. And it's crazy what goes under people's noses. Your favorite pop idol on television, she's a monster. So is the bartender at your favorite place to mope. And don't forget the owner of the Minami Orange Sushi Bar, in fact he's right in front of my desk right now.

"There's been word going around of a new group of ghouls, I want to know about them." Mr. Tachibana, a.k.a Mr. Owner/ Manager of Minami Orange Sushi Bar, says this as he puts down 1100 yen.

Mr. Tachibana is a middle-age man with a few gray hairs. His face shapes a rectangle with hard edges, it almost seems pointy. Another thing pointy about him is that he's always dressed formally. He's quite a frequent client. He hires young ghouls to keep them off the streets. He'd put his well-being before theirs. Even if he doesn't need employees he'd hire someone if they were in need.

"You heard about this from your workers right?" I posed, accepting his payment.

"Y-Yes." He nodded, surprisingly.

"The reason I knew your employees knew, is because this group is starting to get known for recruiting young ghouls, sometimes against their will. They haven't given themselves a name yet and they haven't caused any problems either. The CCG hasn't even started investigating them. Right now their numbers range in the fifties, but they're still growing." I said this while writing it all down for him.

I handed it to him as a buzzer went off; the motion detector has picked something up. I looked to the camera to see three hooded figures approaching.

"What's wrong." Mr. Tachibana must've read my face.

"Quickly," I push my desk to the side and uncover a trap door under a rug, "get in and follow the tunnel." he rushes into the passageway.

"You'll end up east of this building. Call me later and I'll give you the rest of the info." I move everything back into place as Mr. Tachibana makes his way.

I then focus on the quiet knock on the door. "Yes?"

Some money goes into my inbox through the door. "Moto...the Oshiro's we need to know about them." the voice sounded quite young. The new group perhaps.

"I don't sell information about the Oshiro's, if that's all please leave. If you find that a problem I won't hesitate to contact the Oshiro's." I say firmly as the money goes right back out the door.

My protection comes from the Oshiro's. They are a group of well-knit ghouls that have been around for centuries. As for my relation to them, you can wait to hear another time.

The money is pushed back. "Then tell us about Aogiri."

I let them in and sit behind my desk while I count up the money.

"Firstly, you are?" I question.

They looked at each other before speaking, "Our group is called Goya."

"After a raid by the CCG, some of the members of Aogiri have made their way to Osaka, up in Kita. They have detached themselves from the Aogiri in Tokyo and it is unknown if they plan on changing names. They are also the top priority of the CCG here in Osaka. Since they lack a strong leader at the moment, they've been causing a lot of problems." I then hand them my write-up.

They spend no time in leaving and I'm left in my empty office. If you're wondering how I know all of this, well I have ties to the CCG (a guy on the inside basically) and ties to all sorts of factions. The Oshiro's, this 'new' Aogiri, and now Goya (I guess).

As I sit in my empty office I'm reminded of the clutter. Maybe I'll hire an assistant?

A/N:

Thank you for reading. About the SYOC:

-Now there is not a limit of how many OC's I'm accepting. I'll decide based on how well they fit into the story and how interesting they are.

-More than one OC can be submitted.

-They don't all need to be ghouls.

-Please PM me OC forms.

One last thing… I set up a lot of spots for your OC to occupy. ( Kanie's assistant, workers at the Minami Orange Sushi Bar, the new Aogiri, group of ghouls named Goya, the Oshiro's) You can also come up with a faction or store or whatever.

It might also help looking up Osaka. Like Dotonbori is a tourist-filled shopping place, Nipponbashi is a Otaku filled electric district with many anime/manga stores, Namba is where Kanie's office is located as well as the center of Minami which is the Southern part of Osaka.

**Basics**

Name: (first/middle/last)

Age:

Gender:

Nationality: (most of them should be Japanese since it's set in Osaka)

Height/Weight: (imperial)

Ghoul/Human/Other: (if you choose other please specify what exactly your character is. This means your character can be some other type of creature, but please, nothing too outlandish) (Also tell me their ranking if they are a ghoul or part of the CCG)

Occupation: (can range from owning a small store to being a coffee boy at the CCG or to a famous celebrity.)

Residence: (could be a specific area in Osaka or just a type of area. And please be realistic, Mr. CCG coffee boy cannot own a penthouse)

**Appearance**

Body Build:

Skin Tone:

Hair: (style and color)

Eyes: (color necessary; shape optional)

Facial Structure:

Clothing/ Style: (a set of clothes or their style will be fine)

Defining Feature: (what about their appearance stands out the most, or maybe nothing about them stands out)

**Internal Stuff**

Bio: (something short that I can use for a character list)

Backstory:

Personality:

Sexual Orientation:

Likes:

Dislikes:

Fears:

Weaknesses: (pertains to the psyche)

Strengths: (pertains to the psyche)

Speech and Mannerisms:

What kind of place would they spend their time?: (Since it's in Osaka, it's optional to give me an actual place)

What kind of people do they like?:

What kind of people do they dislike?:

What kind of people do they like romantically?: (if you don't want your OC in this sort of relationship then you can leave this blank)

Talents: (can be totally useless or very useful)

**Combat**

Do they fight? Provide support? Or just run?:

Weapon: (if it's a ghoul please tell me their type of kagune, same goes for a CCG member and a regular human)

Style: (what kind of fighting style do they have? how do they utilize their weapon in battle)

Strengths: (pertains to combat)

Weaknesses: (pertains to combat)


	2. New Foe Arc Part 2

New Foe Arc: Part 2

I turned on the small TV to counter the silence in my office. For some reason, Goya and their visit was starting to piss me off. I felt stupid about how much I didn't know about them, stupid about my ignorance. Somehow, my 25 year old self was letting these young ghouls get to me.

My internal rant was cut off by my telephone.

"Ryota?" I said this in my usual tone, shedding behind my anger.

"Something has come up Moto."

Ryota Oshiro, head of the Oshiro family of ghouls which hold the most power here in Osaka. Despite being feared as the leader of the Oshiro's, he's very nervous most of the time. This is because he's only been leader for just over a year. The past leader was killed and so were the three next in line due to a CCG ambush and some backstabbing.

"What can I help with?" I asked.

"I need you to hold onto something for an indefinite amount of time." Ryota's voice seemed colder than usual.

"What exactly i-"

"Come by, we'll talk then."

Ryota's expecting me. His situation seemed urgent, I could tell by hearing his voice. My thoughts were interrupted as I heard a special report on the news coming from my TV.

"This just in, pop idol Aika Ito suspected of criminal activity. Ito has been missing press conferences, meetings, and rehearsals ever since police were seen outside of her penthouse apartment in Umeda. The reason for police action is unknown and we'll be keeping track as this story progresses."

I put on my dark green coat over my gray hoodie and made my way to East Osaka where the Oshiro's are located.

As I made my way there through train stations, I pondered on how different my life could have been. This train of thought was rigorous as I couldn't imagine my life an other way. By the time I found some solace in this, I was already at the place.

I walk in, as a familiar face I'm let through, not stopped by any of the ghouls I pass. Kuruko Hasegawa seems to be waiting for me outside the door to the main room.

"Go on, worm, Ryota's waiting."

Kuruko had a cold look on her heart-shaped face. She stands about my height at 5'7" and has her hair in a high ponytail letting her side bangs reach her chin. She's wearing mostly black right now and has most of her ear piercings in as well.

Kuruko is second in command in Oshiro at the age of seventeen. I consider her extremely dangerous and the CCG has given her an SS ranking. She holds a hatred towards me and that has to do with past stuff pertaining to me and the Oshiro's. Although I wasn't directly connected to what happened, she still blames a large part of it on me and so do many others. Ryota doesn't hold me accountable for what happened and that's probably what's keeping her from hunting me down. Again, what had happened in the past can wait for another time to be told.

I go through the doors to see Ryota along with another person; a young girl?

"Thank you for coming Moto. What I need you to hold on to is her, I don't think I need to introduce."

The young girl, she is that pop idol. The one that had went into hiding. Aika Ito. With these circumstances I'm guessing she's being sought after for testing by the CCG to see if she's a ghoul. And if that's what she's avoiding she must be a ghoul.

Aika Ito is a fairly small girl. She looks very different right now than what she looks like on television. Her light orange hair is down and seems less 'alive'. She's wearing a gray hoodie and jeans which feel, bleak.

"I'm not sure about hiding a ghoul at my place for an indefinite amount of time. I get too much business nowadays." I say looking away from Aika.

"Moto. If you won't, I'm positive that you can find someone who will." He's probably right. And I think that's the closest Ryota has been to threatening me. Ever since he's gained control he's stopped calling me by my first name.

"Alright. I'll do it."

"Thank you. This could have brought more CCG attention over to us, and we wouldn't want that."

I left with Aika who hasn't said a word. She's wearing a surgical mask now and has her hood on too.

Once we get back to my place I set her up with a futon and start to work on a place for her to stay. Ah, he'll do. He'll definitely work. Miss Ito won't be staying here long.

A/N:

Thanks again for reading. I'm still in need of many more OC's. I've only received a few and wish to add more before I really get the story going. If you sent an OC already, feel free to send another. The stories POV will change next chapter and it will get longer.


	3. New Foe Arc Part 3

New Foe Arc: Part 3

* * *

"Nakajima goes reeling towards the ropes! His opponent has gained the advantage here in the twelfth and final round. Nakajima is struggling to stay on his feet through this onslaught."

"But look! He's stepped far over to his right under that wide hook. Nakajima is going for his signature over-hand right-"

"OW!" the class erupted with laughter.

Nao Nakajima has woken up from his dream to discover the reality of the situation. He was not boxing, neither was he in a championship fight. Instead he had just punched the kid sitting in front of him during class.

"I-I-I'm very sorry" Nao stuttered.

"Nakajima, I would like to see you after class." The homeroom teacher said. "Now calm down everybody."

Nao was an average kid, the kind you'd find in a shonen jump manga, with black mid-length hair and no other noticeable features. He also stood at 5'5" and was just shorter than most of the boys in his school.

He went through the rest of the day without nodding off as the end of school came slowly.

But it came… and so did his after school lecture.

"Why is it you're always sleeping in class, are my lessons too boring for you?" the teacher questioned, frustratedly.

"No- that's not it… it's because… I just had to..." Nao struggled to produce an excuse.

The reason for his lack of sleep came from his late night viewing of boxing. Sometimes he'd stay up to watch boxing in other timezones. Other times he'd stay up watching videos of boxing on the internet. This fascination, or rather obsession, with the sport had no real roots or origin. One day he watched a boxing match on television, you could say he liked what he saw.

"Just get enough rest- for christ's sake- if I catch you catching Z's in class again… I'll do... something, dammit." his homeroom teacher wasn't the best at creating consequences.

"Just go home."

Nao didn't waste any time in leaving as he quickly went for the door. As he walked into the hallway he found his friend and classmate, Yumi Arai, waiting for him while reading a manga.

"Ya' know, you gave that kid a bruise." she said smiling.

Yumi was tall, well above most girls at her age, with short and natural auburn hair. She was also very athletic, this combined with good looks created envy from all of the other girls in class.

She transferred a week before Nao did and they sat next to each other in the two empty seats at the back of the classroom. As Nao's only friend was her, her only friend was Nao. The girl's tended to exclude her and her own social skills weren't that great either.

"Hey it wasn't on purpose, I mean I was sleeping how could I have hit him that hard?" Nao said defensively.

"I'm just teasing," she brought down her laughter, "and you hit him surprisingly hard for being asleep. Don't worry though, I'll make sure you stay up through class next time."

They walked together out of school and to the train station. They took the same train but Yumi would get off first for her part-time job, while Nao would go straight home to his small apartment.

They got to Tennōji Station and boarded their train.

"Hey Nakajima, you're always thinking about boxing huh?" Yumi asked.

Nao was reading a boxing magazine he had taken out from his bag.

"Yeah." he said without taking his eyes from the magazine.

"Why don't you start training? I bet you'll be good if you work hard enough."

His eyes left the magazine, searching for an excuse, "I just don't wanna."

Nao Nakajima was a ghoul. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't. His abnormal strength would stand out. Professional athletes also underwent tests to see if they were ghouls. Nao even heard that they started testing celebrities too.

"If I start boxing… I might not like it anymore. I'd basically be spoiling it for me." He finally found an excuse.

"Well that's lame..."

"What about you Arai? You've been reading that manga ever since school ended." Nao countered.

"I-I- I just happened to pick this up at a shop in Nipponbashi. It was on display and piqued my interests." she said flustered.

"Well what were you in Nipponbashi for?" Nao had succeeded in changing the topic.

"I just happened to pass by after getting off of work. Anyway this is my stop. See yah tomorrow?"

"Yeah. See yah."

Nao Nakajima was alone now for the rest of the way. He didn't live too far from Nipponbashi and had nothing else planned so he decided to find what she was reading; since she seemed quite embarrassed. He stopped by his apartment and headed off, but not before catching a boxing fight on television, which lasted for quite some time, and reading more of his magazine. By the time he left it had gotten dark.

He reached Nipponbashi and walked down the light-filled streets. He passed many furniture stores and electronic stores. He stopped as a manga store window caught his attention.

'New hot-selling manga from best-selling mangaka Willow.' he read in his head. 'This could be it.'

He walked into the store and was met by a smell of plastics and papers. He found the manga, flipped through it some, and took it to the register to buy for further examination. If she brought up the boxing thing he'd bring this out and tease her.

The red headed clerk rung him up with a smile, which seemed to have been cemented to her face since he walked in.

"Thank you." Nao said as he reached for the manga but grabbed air. He looked at the girl confused.

"You don't smell like one of them." she said as she moved closer to his face.

It seemed as if she were going to question him further until another customer came in.

It was Yumi. She then left hurriedly realizing it was Nao. Then he started after her with the manga in hand and a grin on his face.

"Wouldn't you like a bag!?" the clerk shouted but realized he was already out of earshot. "No shame huh?"

What Nao didn't pick up from flipping through a few pages of the manga that it a was a Yaoi. The clerk didn't judge but assumed he'd at least like a bag.

Nao tried to catch up to her, but to no avail. He bumped into a tall figure.

"Hey! What do ya think you're doin?" The figure turned out to be a tall young thug, along with two others who also seemed like thugs. "Hey, you don't smell like one of them."

Nao was then dragged into an alley and surrounded. One of them snatched the manga from his hand and started reading.

"What are you!? Some fruit?" the thug said as she showed everybody a quite 'suggestive' scene from the manga. The other two laughed as the third threw the manga on the ground.

"Anyway's we want you to join us. You're a ghoul right?" this came from what seemed to be the leader of this small group.

"No thank you. Now can I leave?" Nao said frustrated.

"Wait. Hold on. Don't you wanna know what happens to the people that decline?"

"Okay what happens?"

"We kick em' around enough till they agree to join." He then whacked Nao across the head with his kagune, knocking him to the ground. "Now let's not go makin' a scene." the leader said threateningly.

"A scene here?" a new voice broke in. "You're not going to cause quite a scene here in this alley."

The new voice came from a small guy with an oversized, white hoodie and blue skinny jeans. He was very short, had black hair that ended at his neck and curled at the ends, and porcelain skin. Not quite intimidating at all. At least to this group of ghouls.

"Hey what do you know! Piss off."

"All three of you shouldn't be picking on this one guy, that's quite unfair. Now two on three should even the odds, even just a little bit." he shot back calmly.

"Yeah? What are you gon- UGH!"

The small guy seemed to dart from each of the three guys attacking quickly and fluidly. Soon all of them were on the ground. He then picked up the manga and handed it to Nao who had a hand over his cheek where he had been hit.

"Who are you?" Nao asked.

"I'm Willow." he said while pointing to the manga.

He looked to the manga to realize that the author was right in front of him. "Why'd you help me out though?"

"I was going to see a friend of mine, well the clerk of the manga store back there, Miss Foley and I'd seen you with a copy of my manga." Willow explained.

"Well thanks anyways Willow." Nao stuck out his hand.

"Your welcome, but please call me Will, or William at least." Will said accepting his handshake. "I have to go now, but I have a feeling I'll be seeing you around."

"Alright well thanks again." The two parted into the busy streets of late night Nipponbashi. Nao headed home.

He reached a train station and upon waiting for his train he received a call.

"Hello?"

"Ah, Nao how are you doing? That apartment been treating you well?" Nao knew his voice all too well.

It was Kanie Moto. A guy who worked in the realm of ghouls and sold information. But Moto also worked somewhat as a real estate agent. He was able to secure an apartment for Nao after Nao's caretaker left. Moto wouldn't give anyone a freebie, the only reason he did so for Nao was because Nao was his cousin. Though... Nao always feared he'd want something in return.

"Everything is fine, thanks again for all that you have done." Nao said in a conciliatory manner.

"What about school? How's school?" Nao felt as if Moto was starting to interrogate him.

"School? School's school." Moto had also secured Nao a spot in the high school he attended.

"Well I'm going to cut to the chase. Meet me in Dōtonbori. The usual place."

Now at 10:36, Nao was again sidetracked. This is why Nao didn't go out often. Fate seemed to keep him from getting sleep, whenever boxing wasn't.

The 'usual place' was the Minami Orange Sushi Bar. Nao figured this is where Moto would usually have confidential meetings as this sushi bar had separate rooms for large parties of people.

Nevertheless, Nao had left the train station and was on the way to Dōtonbori, where he would find Moto.

* * *

A/N: Thank you all for reading another one of my chapters. My plan is to have at least one arc in which an OC is mainly a part of. Speaking of which I'm still accepting, and will be for quite a while, so no need to rush. The next chapter will also include a character list filled with the characters that will be playing a role in this arc.


	4. New Foe Arc Part 4

New Foe Arc Part 4

Nao walked into the crowded sushi bar to meet an abhorrent smell. The place stank of seafood; even to a ghoul like Nao who had a very poor sense of smell. Nevertheless the place was still packed with a lot of human customers.

"Hello! Welcome to the Minami Orange Sushi Bar. How many do you need seated?" Nao wondered if this was a new employee.

"No it's all right Kaneda . I'll take this one." Yori Tachibana, the manager and owner of the place, led Nao to a secluded room away from the influx of human customers.

Yori Tachibana was well-acquainted with Nao. As Nao would come around every month or so for a 'meal'. This was arranged by Moto as well.

"Here we are." Yori Tachibana opened the shoji door to reveal Kanie Moto sitting a table alone. Moto motioned for him to sit.

"It's getting late so I'll make this quick." Moto said as he put a sushi roll into his mouth. Nao wondered how he could do it so easily.

"Have you ever read a manga or seen an anime where the main character, who is plain as vanilla and dense as a black hole, just happens to get into a once-in-a-lifetime situation with a beautiful celebrity?" Moto posed.

"No. I don't read much manga or watch much anime." Nao said lamely, remembering the past few hours.

"If this situation came upon you and you were the said main protagonist, how would you react?"

"I… don't know. It sounds ludicrous." Nao couldn't tell where Moto was going with this.

"Whatever. I have done a great deal to help you out. Correct?"

"Yup, you have."

"So even if I ask a lot out of you, you'd gladly accept?"

"Y-Yeah, yeah." Nao said unconvincingly.

"Well I need you to take in a said miss Aika Ito. But only for a while. Maybe about till the end of this summer." At this time it was the beginning of spring.

"Who's Aika Ito?"

"That's right. All you pay attention to is boxing." Moto sounded disappointed. "Aika Ito, the famous pop idol now on the run, is right here." he said as he got up and opened the shoji door to the adjoining room.

Sitting there was a small girl. A girl's who whole attitude seemed apathetic. She sat there as small as a pebble, not making eye-contact with neither Nao nor Moto.

"You want me to take in her!?" He had finally realized the context of the conversation.

"Yes. As I've said before."

"I-I can't. My apartment's only a one-room. This can't work out!" Nao's usual calmness was left behind as he was panicking.

"No. You used to have a one-room apartment. Now you have a two-room apartment with more than enough amenities a highschool boy would need."

"What do you mean?"

"I visited your apartment earlier today, you weren't there so I took the liberty of moving you out myself. I thought it'd make a nice surprise."

"A nice surprise!? As if taking in another ghoul wasn't a 'nice' enough surprise."

Moto eyed Nao for his unusual disobedience and Nao immediately picked up on his stare.

"I'm sorry. I'll take her in no problem." He said defeated.

"Thank you, but that's not all." Moto was back to his usual look. "That bruise on your face... have you been getting into fights?"

"No."

"There's been a problem." Moto cut off Nao.

"A young group of ghouls have been..._ forcefully_," Moto eyed Nao's bruise, "initiating other ghouls into their 'gang'. I need you to join them- no, I want you to become a canary."

"What do you mean exactly?"

"Join them, then relay me what you know about them. Who their leader is, where their base is, what they might be planning, and information of that nature."

"Fine." he said sourly.

The information to his new apartment was handed to Nao and he left the sushi bar along with Aika Ito; who for the most part kept quiet while seeming uninhabited by any sense of cheer. This attitude irritated Nao because he could not stand people down on themselves. Still, with the new address in hand, Nao and Aika made their way home.

They arrived at the apartment complex to see a building standing at four-stories high. This contrasted hugely to his old apartment complex which was simply a small two-story wooden structure.

"The paper said room number '424'. I'm thinking that's the fourth floor?" he asked Aika, not expecting a response.

The room was indeed on the fourth floor and it was in the very middle of the building. The furthest a room was from any entrance. Lucky for them there was an elevator. Nao opened the door with the keys Moto had given him and they clicked the door open.

Nao scanned the room for his old furniture which proved pointless. He wasn't mad though. His old kotatsu was now replaced with a newer one, which he would realize heated up, and his old television was replaced by a small flat-screen. He went into the bedroom to find some of his belongings on a bed. His boxing magazines and laptop were among them.

While taking in his new apartment he had entirely disregarded Aika. He went back into the main room to find her removing her shoes in the genkan.

"You can go ahead and take the bed…" she didn't bother to look towards him, "I'm not really sure how to deal with these kinds of situations." Nao patted the back of his head nervously.

Aika trudged to the bedroom and closed the shoji door behind her.

Nao set his alarm and put it atop the komatsu. He then turned it on, put half his body under the table, and went to bed.

Late in the night Nao was awoken by a small rustling nose. He woke up facing the window and turned over to face the noise he had heard. He couldn't see anything until a bright, white light beamed from the kitchen. Aika had opened the refrigerator and was looking around in it. She turned away from the fridge holding a canned coffee and saw that Nao was awake and looking at her. The only light that illuminated their faces was the light from the fridge.

"You still live a normal life huh?" Aika had spoken, "You go to school every morning, hang out with your friends, and go back home. And they don't realize you're a monster."

Nao, having been half-asleep, replied with "Huh?"

Aika wasn't sated with his answer as she closed the refrigerator and went back into the bedroom. Nao was left confused and in the dark. The night went on silently.

The alarm went off and woke up Nao. It took him a while to fully awake and smack it off. It was much quieter here than in his other apartment, which was next to a highway.

He got ready for school and didn't bother to check on Aika. Not out of spite, but out of obliviousness. He left the apartment to meet the brisk, spring morning air. He figured he was closer to the school than his friend Yumi and expected to find her on the train before he boarded.

He stepped off the platform and into the train with a grin. He was planning to confront Yumi and her yaoi manga hobby but was unpleasantly surprised to find her no where on the train. He wasn't worried at first but as the doors closed and the train departed, he felt a pit in the back of his throat. Thoughts of the gang of ghouls that he ran into, and that Moto had told him about, raced through his mind.

These thoughts cleared out as the train stopped at his destination, though they lingered as he walked the rest of the way.

He walks into school, through the main gates, through the hallways, and into his classroom on the second floor.

He saw Yumi sitting in her seat but she didn't seem to pay attention to him, rather, it seemed as if she were ignoring him. Even when he sat down in his desk next to hers she didn't make the slightest movement to look at him.

Quite a few things crossed Nao's sleepy mind: 'whew… I'm relieved that she's here..' and, 'wait...she's ignoring me?' and also, 'it's the manga huh?'

Though Nao settled on his last thought, other more gloomy thoughts loomed about his head. For now he settled on the silence and waited for class to start.

Class started and he struggled to stay awake. He nearly closed his eyes but enough time passed and the lunch bell rang. A disgruntled Nao rose from his seat seeing as Yumi was giving him the silent treatment. He decided to walk around to get his blood flowing as to not fall asleep in class once class started again.

He bumbled around and went into the third year's hallway; albeit not knowing it. His eyes met with that of someone with bright green eyes. Nao recognized them.

"Hey you're that guy from yesterday… William?"

"Yeah. I didn't think I'd run into you this soon." Will said with a surprised smile.

On the matter of joining the gang of ghouls that Moto had told him about, he didn't know where to start. Until he ran into Will right now, whose presence was like a godsend.

"If you don't mind could we talk a bit. Maybe somewhere secluded?" Nao asked.

"Yeah sure. I don't mind." he said cheerily.

Nao didn't want to ask him too much because he didn't know how well acquainted he was with him. The two went up to the roof and find a quiet spot.

"So what did you want to know?" he said curiously with his head tilted.

"Remember that ghoul 'gang'?"

"Of course, that's when we met duh." Will said jokingly.

"Of course, were they around that area for a long time? Or had they just happened to be there?"

"Mmm, they were there for quite awhile. I really can't stand those types of ghouls. They're arrogant as hell and get pissed off for the slightest of reasons. I mean seriously they…" Will suddenly paused, "pardon me, it seems they've got me too worked up." his smile reappeared.

"Do you think I can find them hanging around there, Nipponbashi, again?"

"I suppose. Well... I do have a good idea where they've been hanging around. I've had for a while." Will recalled.

"W-Where is it?" Nao asked excitedly.

"Wait. Why do you want to know? You don't plan on getting any sort of revenge are you? Because there's more than just those three."

"No. That's not it." after hearing Will show his distaste for those types of ghouls, Nao was not sure if he wanted to tell him what he was really after.

"So. Then what is it?"

He figured it would be easier to tell him, "They're a gang, so I'm looking to join them."

"Why would you want to do that?" Will was honestly perplexed.

"I just… _need_ to. I can't explain right now."

"You don't need to. I'll show you where I think they may be." Will seemed to have understand his resolve. Not his motive, but his resolve. "Meet me after school. I'll be just outside of the main gates."

The bell that marked the end of lunch rang and the two made their way to their classrooms.

Although Nao was a little nervous, he still had trouble staying awake in class. It was when the history teacher started his lecture that finally put Nao to sleep. He was stirred awake by a meager shove to his arm. He turned towards the shove to make eye-contact with Yumi, who quickly looked away. He remembered that Yumi made a promise yesterday to keep him awake. He smiled to himself and managed to make it through class.

At the end of class, Nao made his way to the main gates swiftly to find Will already there. Without a word he lead Nao through town, winding through tall buildings, until they ended up in a clearing with a warehouse in between the tall buildings. Will approached the red, iron door and stopped when he heard a voice.

"Who the hell are you guys!?" this voice had no figure behind it and seemed to come fom someone in the building.

"We just wa-"

"wanted to let you know that you have two new recruits!" Will shouted back.

"Wait… TWO?!" Nao looked at Will with his mouth agape. He just stood there smirking.

Characters:

(what's listed here is things we already know about the characters that have already been introduced; as characters develop more will be added)

**Kanie Moto (Jayut)- me**

**Age: **25

**Bio:**Little is known about this young info broker. He has ties to Oshiro which almost seem like a debt.

**Yori Tachibana (Jayut)**

**Age: **39

**Bio: **He is the owner of the Minami Orange Sushi Bar which is run by ghoul employees. He is very sympathetic towards ghouls and humans alike. He isn't the brightest and may put his trust into the wrong people.

**Ryota Oshiro (Jayut)**

**Age: **22

**Bio: **Head of Oshiro. He came into power after the leader and three others who were next in line were killed. He is a powerful ghoul who is also overwhelmed by his new role as the leader.

**Kuruko Hasegawa (Unicorn819)**

**Age: **17

**Bio: **It is known that she holds a strong grudge towards Kanie Moto for undisclosed reasons. She is the second in command in Oshiro.

**Aika Ito (Jayut)**

**Age:** 16

**Bio: **The now former pop idol is on the run from the CCG and regular law-enforcement. Her attitude is bleak as she feels like she's lost everything. She has been entrusted into the care of Kanie Moto by Ryota Oshiro and Kanie Moto has entrusted her with his cousin Nao Nakajima.

**Nao Nakajima (PassItOn)**

**Age:** 16

**Bio: **Nao is Moto's cousin who's fairly new to Osaka. He attends school with his friend Yumi and watches a bit too much boxing. He's considered a 'boxing otaku' at school and hardly gets enough sleep because of it.

**Yumi Arai (PassItOn)**

**Age: **16

**Bio: **Yumi is a human and has recently moved to Osaka. Her social awkwardness and envy she receives from the other girls keeps her from having a lot of friends. It has recently been discovered that she reads yaoi manga, but not how frequently.

**Willow (Ruinekys)**

**Age: 17**

**Bio: **Willow prefers to be called by the name Will or William. This is because he doesn't like when people fawn over his skill at drawing manga. He keeps a cheery attitude but tends to act differently when in fights. This was witnessed when his underclassmen Nao was attacked by a group of ghouls. We can also assume that Yumi Arai is a fan of his work.

"**Miss Foley" (ZorialWater)**

**Age: ?**

**Bio: **Little is known about her other than she is the clerk for a manga store in Nipponbashi and is friends with Will.

**Scenarios:**

(this will include various scenarios which only few characters will be put through each chapter; this has nothing to do with the story and is here to help me write these characters properly) (If you have some suggestions for the scenario, let me know)

**Good job! You've just scored the highest test score in your class!**

**Nao Nakajima:** No-no-no-no *pinches himself* I'm 100% positive I'm sleeping.

**Yumi Arai: **Holy crap! *realizes her cursing* Wait- I'm sorry- it's just I- *settles down* I am surprised.

**Willow: **Wow! Well I can't say I didn't expect it.

**Aika Ito: **Hah! This was cake the rest of the class just can't catch on.

**Kanie Moto: **No more, no less. Just as expected.

**A/N:**

Another chapter and a little bit more finished. This took me a little bit longer as I was sick writing the beginning of this chapter. And my sick writing is well… confusing. So after multiple revisions, here it is. Next chapter is the finale of this arc and a new one will begin. Expect to see new characters and more action in the next arc.


	5. New Foe Arc END

New Foe Arc END

Nao had been nervous since Moto asked him to join this gang. So the words from Will struck him like a shovel, but he found himself lying in warm dirt. He felt much more relieved now that someone else was with him on this, whether or not he knew his intentions.

Nao and Will heard what they thought to be deliberation from multiple voices in the warehouse.

"Alright! Come in! Slowly." The red door opened slowly and made a rusty wail at the end of its swing.

Nao slowly moved forward but saw Will walking swiftly so he sped up to match his pace.

Once they entered the dark building they realized they were surrounded. Curious red, black, and purple eyes stared at them behind shadows from rafters and from catwalks. The red door wailed agonizingly as it closed once more and rays of sunlight from the roof were the only source of light that pierced the dusty warehouse.

"What are you here for?" a calm voice spoke from the shadows.

"I utterly despise humans." Will said while nudging me.

"And you?" Nao couldn't see where this voice came from but he felt it's stare.

"Uh yeah, I hate humans."

After what seemed like prolonged silence, the voice stepped into the light. It was a young looking man, just around twenty, and he had a sense of arrogance which shone through his smirk. His hair was styled like Nao's and was very black. Nao noticed that he was looking at him and Will with his head cocked to the right side, as if he was looking at them through one eye.

"Great... let's see em'"

As he finished the sentence, lights switched on illuminating the whole building and everyone's faces. It surprised Nao to see so many young ghouls. Most of them had to be around the age of high schoolers and middle schoolers.

"See what exactly?" Will asked back.

"You're kagune, what else?"

Will had no problem summoning his kagune. They were bikaku that were strangely shaped like a tree... a willow tree perhaps.

Nao felt a different type of nervousness this time, one called embarrassment. His face was growing ever redder as everyone looked at Will's bikaku either approvingly or impressed.

"Alright, now you." The stares in the warehouse moved on to Nao.

"Haha, now you what?" Nao laughed nervously keeping his head down.

"We're not playing games here. Show us your kagune." The presumed leader ordered.

Realizing the seriousness of the situation Nao was getting ready to extend his kagune to the best of his ability.

"You gonna show us or not. Quit fucking with us."

"I am." Nao said sternly.

He then took off his shirt.

There was a moment of anticipation as everyone leaned forward. Then... there was a burst of hysterical laughter.

"What the hell is that!?" a voice from the crowd shouted.

"Ahaha! A frickin nub!" A young voice shouted hysterically.

Protruding from Nao's upper back was a nub. A lump of disfigured black rc cells that glowed dimly.

"Alright, alright, alright." The words from the leader silenced the group of ghouls, "Haha, we can work with that. Now tell us your names."

"I'm Will and this is-"

"My names Nao." Nao had grown a bit angry from that whole situation.

"Well in order for you to gain my trust I'll have you go with a few of our guys to find new recruits tomorrow. And by the way, not everyone just walked in asking to join. If you have to be forceful, be forceful."

"Yeah, alright. But what's your name? We've already gave ours." Nao said sternly.

"Come back tomorrow and we'll see. Don't forget."

The crowd surrounding them opened up to the door and Will and Nao left. Nao was relieved to be back into the open. Something didn't smell right in there; this would have bugged Nao but he wasn't confident in his nose at all.

"We didn't learn much about them. I bet we looked very suspicious just walking in there." Will spoke.

Nao was also becoming a bit leery of Will. He had said before that he knew of where they might be, but Will directed him straight to the building. And when they were asked why they wanted to join. Will said 'I utterly despise humans'. He seemed to know exactly what to say and even nudged Nao as if to follow his lead after.

As they were walking Nao saw a poster on a store window. It showed pop idol Aika Ito on it striking one of her signature poses in a lively way. She looked nothing like she did then. The poster reminded him of her and he realized that he had better hurry home.

"I've gotta hurry home. So I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'll see you at that warehouse. He never gave us a time, so... I'd say about the same time as today." Will replied.

Tomorrow would be Saturday and that meant no school. Nao would usually spend these days staying in his room avoiding outside contact. That would not be the case this Saturday. These past days have been extremely busy for Nao. Well, compared to his usual pace.

After a while Nao was at the entrance to his apartment building.

He entered through the front entrance and turned a corner towards the elevators. He saw that it was about to close so he quickly inserted his hand between the door. The door pressed against his hand and opened up. In haste, he entered the elevator without taking the time to really look at who was in the elevator with him. Thinking he saw a familiar face he took a double take.

"W-W-What are you doing here Nakajima!?" Yumi Arai, Nao's classmate, stammered surprisedly.

"I-I just moved in yesterday. You must live here as well then?" he asked half as surprised as her.

"I've been here since I moved to Osaka."

Nao looked to the other red-haired girl. "Oh! I'm guess I'm Yumi's friend, Caitlyn."

Caitlyn stood much below Yumi's height and had a very young appearance. Nao would have thought she was younger than Yumi but, he had recognized her from somewhere.

"Is it Caitlyn... Foley?"

"Yeah it is. How did you know?" Now Caitlyn seemed surprised.

"I think we have a common friend." Nao thought back to the the other day at the manga store.

She was the clerk there that helped him buy the manga. He remembered her last name being referenced by Will back when he took care of those thugs, 'Miss Foley'. The other thing Nao remembered was how close she got to his face and said 'You don't smell like one of them'. He knew that she was a ghoul. And he knew, that she knew, he was a ghoul also.

"Well I'm Nao Nakajima. Me and Arai are classmates."

"Ohhhh. You're _that_ Nao." Caitlyn said as if she'd come to some realization.

"Oh look we're at our floor. Come on Caitlyn let's go." Yumi took her by the hand as if in a hurry and quickly flew out of the elevator.

Nao looked at the button panel. "Third floor huh? They're right below me."

He ascended in the elevator and went to his apartment to find the place quiet and the lights dimmed. He looked into the bedroom to see Aika lying in the bed. She must have heard him and peered over to look. Nao quickly retreated.

Just as he was about to turn on the television for some boxing matches his doorbell rang. He got up from the komatsu and headed for the disturbance. Once he got there, he looked through the peephole and saw the manga store clerk, Caitlyn Foley. Cautiously, he opened the door. The door gave a slight squeak as it presented her and her beaming stare, her smile had abandoned her face. He decided to play ignorant.

"Ah, Caitlyn. What can I help you with?" a false smirk covered Nao's face.

"What are planning with Yumi?" she asked very directly.

"Ha, what do you mean?" he stuck to his act.

Caitlyn glanced around the fourth floor looking for people and when she saw the only lady on the floor enter her apartment, she rushed Nao quickly and pinned him against the wall of inside of his apartment.

"If you ever hurt her I-I'll…" she had him by the collar.

"Look, I care for her just as much as you do." he said sincerely.

To Nao, Caitlyn's intimidation tactic looked very childish. She didn't have much packing in strength and her whole bodily appearance was child-like so he couldn't take her seriously.

"O-Okay," she released him and the tantrum was over.

After a few seconds of silence she took notice of her surroundings, "Wow nice place you got here." she was back to her usual bubbliness.

"You know this place is a whole lot bigger than the room I got. What'd you need a place this big for? Someone else staying here with ya?" she poked around the room innocently.

"No-no-no that's not case," he searched for an excuse, "I just get a little claustrophobic sometimes."

"Wow! Really? I'm the same way. I can't stand crowded places. It must be really bad for you if you have such a big place."

Problem avoided.

"I think we'll get along Nao. We really do have a lot in common. Like how we both are friends with Yumi, and he we're both claustro-"

"I should really get going on umm… homework. Yeah I've got plenty of homework. I don't really want to kick you out rudely so…"

"Tomorrow's Saturday silly. But I get'cha." She headed for the door. "Like I said we really seem to have a lot in common. Yumi seems to like you a lot so I wouldn't mind hanging out sometime. See ya."

It was important that Aika not be discovered. And things would become complicated for him if Yumi knew that there was a girl staying in the same apartment. He sunk down to his komatsu, flipped on the heater, and turned on the television to return to watching the boxing match from earlier. To his disappointment, it had already ended. Knock-out in the fourth round. He knew that there was a special documentary on a famous boxer so he switched to that. It lasted for four hours. He payed attention to all of it and fell asleep right as it ended.

He was disturbed by someone's voice.

"Hey... Hey... Wake up."

Aika was standing in the kitchen, empty coffee can in hand.

"Ito?" He said groggily standing up.

She pointed to the empty can, "Get more of these."

It smacked other cans as it went in the trash. Aika went back into the dark bedroom leaving Nao to realize morning was breaking into the afternoon. He readied up for the day.

**Characters:**

**Kanie Moto (Jayut)- me**

**Age: **25

**Bio:**Little is known about this young info broker. He has ties to Oshiro which almost seem like a debt.

**Yori Tachibana (Jayut)**

**Age: **39

**Bio: **He is the owner of the Minami Orange Sushi Bar which is run by ghoul employees. He is very sympathetic towards ghouls and humans alike. He isn't the brightest and may put his trust into the wrong people.

**Ryota Oshiro (Jayut)**

**Age: **22

**Bio: **Head of Oshiro. He came into power after the leader and three others who were next in line were killed. He is a powerful ghoul who is also overwhelmed by his new role as the leader.

**Kuruko Hasegawa (Unicorn819)**

**Age: **17

**Bio: **It is known that she holds a strong grudge towards Kanie Moto for undisclosed reasons. She is the second in command in Oshiro.

**Aika Ito (Jayut)**

**Age:** 16

**Bio: **The now former pop idol is on the run from the CCG and regular law-enforcement. Her attitude is bleak as she feels like she's lost everything. She has been entrusted into the care of Kanie Moto by Ryota Oshiro and Kanie Moto has entrusted her with his cousin Nao Nakajima. They don't get along well. It may also be noted that she drinks loads of coffee.

**Nao Nakajima (PassItOn)**

**Age:** 16

**Bio: **Nao is Moto's cousin who's fairly new to Osaka. He attends school with his friend Yumi and watches a bit too much boxing. He's considered a 'boxing otaku' at school and hardly gets enough sleep because of it. He's joined a gang of ghouls to relay information to his cousin and infor-broker, Kanie Moto. Recently it's been noted that his kagune is deformed.

**Yumi Arai (PassItOn)**

**Age: **16

**Bio: **Yumi is a human and has recently moved to Osaka. Her social awkwardness and envy she receives from the other girls keeps her from having a lot of friends. It has recently been discovered that she reads yaoi manga, but not how frequently. She also lives in the same apartment building as Nao. One of her friends, apart from Nao, is Caitlyn Foley. Unbeknownst to her both of her only friends are ghouls.

**Willow (Ruinekys)**

**Age: 17**

**Bio: **Willow prefers to be called by the name Will or William. This is because he doesn't like when people fawn over his skill at drawing manga. He keeps a cheery attitude but tends to act differently when in fights. This was witnessed when his underclassmen Nao was attacked by a group of ghouls. We can also assume that Yumi Arai is a fan of his work. He seems to know more about the young gang of ghouls than he lets on.

**Caitlyn Foley (ZorialWater)**

**Age: 19**

**Bio: **Caitlyn is a very bubbly girl whose appearance contradicts her actual age. She works in a manga store in Nipponbashi and is friends with Willow, Yumi Arai, and Nao Nakajima, whom she was recently acquainted with. Nao and Caitlyn both share common friends like Yumi and Willow.

**Scenario: **Will be saved for the next chapter with new OC's.

**A/N: **

The New Foe Arc has ended. Who's the 'New Foe'. Well… even though I figured it's pretty obvious I'll tell you guys anyways. It's the group of young ghouls called Goya. They'll be causing a lot of problems later on.

Anyways I'd again like to thank everybody for their support. I do enjoy writing this and may sometimes get carried away with chapter length. So if you can let me know how the length of each chapter is that would be very appreciated.


	6. The Alternative to Alt Part 1

The Alternative to Alternative: Part 1

**-One Year Prior-**

The ballet studio gleamed with glorious talent; Japan's finest in fact. These twenty or so ballerinas were trying to make Osaka's National team. Each one of them as confident and determined as the other. They were in a fierce and elegant battle for a spot. But... this was not the case for everyone in the studio that day.

In a secluded back room, a girl was training especially hard and with twice the confidence as all of the other girls. Kira Lilya Pietrikova already held a spot. The fifteen-year-old was far above the rest. In her black leotard, skirt, and cardigan, she glided delicately across the floor with apt precision. Her mentor looked on approvingly.

Unbeknownst to the teacher and student, a disturbance had intruded in the main hall. A disturbance so serious that many of the ballerinas went notably off time and the music was stopped. A tall man and a woman both in CCG uniforms were the cause. An exchange of words came between the two and a young instructor. After a sort of confirmation and a nod, the two investigators headed towards the backroom.

Kira stopped her practice as the investigators entered the room. She gracefully let herself down from the pose she was in and grew a cold posture, obviously irritated by the sudden disturbance.

"Kira Pietrikova right?" the tall investigator asked while scratching his chin.

She didn't bother answering,

The other investigator took the silence as a yes, "I'm Azumi Kirisawa and this is Jack Itsuki." she said in a cheerful manner.

"I think you know why we're here."

The CCG, along with the help of other organizations, have started to crack down on ghouls competing professionally in sports. Ghouls have many physical advantages over humans and, if used carefully, can propel them far above their competitors. To many of these ghouls, the risk is worth the reward. Though, the risk has increased tremendously with this 'crackdown'.

"Of course. And I don't plan to get prodded for testing today." Kira responded coldly.

"Now, now, now, we're just investigating today. We need a warrant for anything 'intrusive' like that." the other investigator, Jack, said listlessly.

"Then please leave, as you might see, I'm very busy practicing." she snapped back.

"Yeah, of course," Azumi spoke, "but you should be expecting us some time soon."

The two investigators left the room.

Kira paced around the room shaking her hands, "Odin, dva, tri, chetyre, payt" she said while smacking the ballet bar five times.

Kira Lilya Pietrikova was a ghoul

If the CCG were to stop her from dancing, she knew she'd make all hell break loose. If she ever saw those two investigators again… she'd kill them.

**The Next Day...**

Kira Lilya Pietrivoka was a fan of rock music. She knew of a music house that had live rock performances on Saturday nights. After her run-in with the two investigators yesterday, she felt like she needed to get her mind off of things, so she headed to that music house.

She didn't think that the place would be as packed as it was. Instead of asking for the reason, she listened in on a group of humans.

Apparently, there's a band performing whose lead singer is sixteen. She was said to have 'rockin' vocals which made singers which were far older than her jealous. She didn't catch the band's name, but she did find out that they were up next.

The band that was currently performing wasn't anything special. A group of men, five of them, who all had their hair spiked up in a mohawk, were seemingly ringing out the neck of their guitars and playing something with heavy distortion. The lead singer, he had the biggest of the mohawks, was screaming into the microphone. The more Kira observed them, the worst they sounded to her. Nevertheless, some people were enjoying it.

But soon the ruckus stopped and the lead singer inarticulately yelled something into the mic and they exited the stage.

The lights on the stage went out and the crowd went quiet. Four figures walked onto the stage. When the lights returned there was one guy on the drums, another on the bass, and another on lead guitar. The guys were all about in their twenties, Kira figured. But, what everyone else's eyes were focused on was the short girl on stage with a guitar, standing in front of the microphone.

She felt like something seemed off about the singer, something inhuman. Before she could conceive a conclusion from this, the lead singer spoke.

"Ladies and gentlemen… we are Goya."

Right after she finished that sentence they burst into melodical bliss. Kira recognized the music as alternative but she was nonetheless drawn into the sound.

The band was perfectly in tune with one another and the sixteen year old was letting her voice loose. Kira thought that her voice could easily fill up the small music house without the mic.

Kira was very drawn into the sound coming from off the stage. So drawn in that she did not notice the same two CCG investigators from yesterday walk in through the front door. Nobody paid attention to them as they quietly hung around the back of the music house.

As the band finished their set, Kira was released from the music. Her eyes followed the band as they quietly exited to a hallway on the side of the stage.

The manager of the place then took stage to announce that that was the last live performance of the night.

Many people started to leave as they were just there for the band named Goya. Kira figured she might leave as well and turned around for the exit. But when she did so, she saw the two investigators from yesterday. They seemed to pay no attention to her and it looked like they were there for something else.

She stood in her place as others passed her by. The thoughts from yesterday arose again in her mind. Those two investigators posed a threat to her ballet dancing. She had told herself that if she had seen them again that she would kill them.

The music that Goya performed was burning inside her mind.

She could feel the adrenaline rushing through her body and she loved it.

Characters:

**Kira Lilya Pietrikova (Unknown4682)**

**Age: **15

**Bio: **The pride of the Osaka National Ballet, she is secretly a ghoul. A dangerous one to be quite honest.

**Jack Itsuki (InariKurenai)**

**Age: **24

**Bio: **This tall investigator is very lazy. If there's work to be done, he'd rather not be doing it. Despite this he's very skilled in combat. He's rumored to have beaten a SS-rank ghoul while sleeping. He never officially denied it.

**Azumi Kirisawa (leena1445)**

**Age: **18

**Bio: **Born in Kyoto, this investigator has sworn to rid humanity of all ghouls. She may seem cheerful and happy on the outside, but there is definitely more to her.

**A/N:**

If you're wondering why your OC is younger than stated in your form, that's because she or he is younger. This arc takes place a year before the last one and it aims to build more background to further events.

I will admit quite embarrassingly that next the next chapter is shameless exposition, but whatevs. To compensate, I'll probably release two chapters back to back.


	7. The Alternative to Alt Part 2

The Alternative to Alternative: Part 2

Darks clouds loomed over the city of Osaka. Under the brewing storm, two investigators were making their way down a street.

"How about we stop by this cafe for some coffee before we get to work?"

"Huh? Coffee? No thank you."

"Oh come on. I'll be too tired for the day ahead of us."

"The smell bothers me so get over it Jackie."

"My names not Jackie." Jack Itsuki, the tall investigator, sighed.

"Aww, I'm just teasing. Teasing I swear." Azumi Kirisawa, the cheerful investigator, spoke.

"Then let's head on in. Ladies first."

After the miniscule dispute, the two investigators entered the coffee shop. The warm smell of coffee met Jack nicely, and Azumi harshly.

"Still can't understand how people enjoy the bitterness." she was bothered by the aroma, but didn't let the disgust show on her face.

Jack laid back into his chair. He looked as though he was about to fall asleep until a young waitress asked for their orders.

"So, what can I get you guys?" the waitress said distantly.

"Uh I'll have an espresso."

"Okay and you ma'am?" the waitress glanced to Azumi.

"I don't care much for coff-" Azumi stopped mid-sentence as she spotted a delicate pastry on someone else's plate, "Actually I'll have what their having."

"Yeah sure. One ovali. It'll be out soon."

Jack waited till the waitress was out of earshot,

"What's the matter with her?"

"Maybe she's nervous because we're CCG?"

"Yeah I guess that could be intimidating to a young girl like her. She probably what? Just entered high school?"

"Whatever. I don't get good vibes from her anyways."

"Hey," Jack peered at the briefcase in Azumi's lap, "why don't you put it down and relax?"

"I can't put this down. We were just assigned these new quinques last week."

"Ah, good point. I'm still eager to use them. They're supposed to be lined with that anti-RC cell stuff, right?"

"Correct. A ghoul shouldn't be able to heal after being hit with this." Azumi said excitedly, "They're doing some great things at Penjara."

"Yeah. I almost got stationed there. Would have been boring though. Guarding a prison hardly gets any action."

Just as he finished that sentence the espresso and ovali were delivered to their table.

"Enjoy." the waitress hurried off.

"Ahhh, this will help. How many suspected ghouls are we visiting today anyways?" Jack basked in the aroma of the strong espresso.

"Well, we start with a ballerina. After that some baseball players, skiers." she continued down the list. "Oh boy! A sumo wrestler?!"

"Really a sumo wrestler? That'll be interesting."

"And, uh, that's it for today."

"Well what's in store for tomorrow?"

"Let's see.." Azumi flipped to another piece of paper. "We start in the morning with a boxer, then around noon we go investigate an Olympic track runner."

"And lastly?"

"Oh. just some small time singer."

Characters:

**Jack Itsuki (InariKurenai)**

**Age: **24

**Bio: **This tall investigator is very lazy. If there's work to be done, he'd rather not be doing it. Despite this he's very skilled in combat. He's rumored to have beaten a SS-rank ghoul while sleeping. He never officially denied it.

**Azumi Kirisawa (leena1445)**

**Age: **18

**Bio: **Born in Kyoto, this investigator has sworn to rid humanity of all ghouls. She may seem cheerful and happy on the outside, but there is definitely more to her.

**A/N:**

There are some important things mentioned in this chapter that will definitely correlate to upcoming events. The finale to this arc will be out tomorrow so look forward to it.


	8. The Alternative to Alt END

The Alternative to Alternative: END

Four bandmates were sitting restlessly in their backstage room; a room that had thin walls and was to some extent, small. A large, single-pane window was centered at the back wall. A dark alley way could be viewed from this window, but the curtains were drawn.

"Ready? How about you? How are your hands?"

"My hands? They're still cold."

"Here let me see 'em."

The guy warmed them up by rubbing them between his own two hands quickly.

"Better?"

"Yeah. Thanks bro."

Chiwa Mukai looked towards her brother who shined with confidence.

"We'll be alright. I promise. We just need you on the mic, letting yourself loose."

"Alright, as long as you keep on the beat. Don't rush me." she said quite jokingly.

Chiwa grasped her guitar again and gave it a couple strums. She took it over the other guitarist, one of her brother's friends, and made sure that their tunings matched each others. While they were in the middle of doing this the manager came in through the door letting in the noise from the band performing.

"They're on their last song. Everyone ready?"

"Yeah, whenever they're off the stage we're ready to go on." Chiwa answered.

The band migrated from their room to the side of the stage ready to go up and perform. The band looked at each other once more before taking their places in front of the crowd.

Chiwa thought that their entrance was laughable. The whole, walk up with the lights off, and then turn back on again once their in position. Nevertheless the lights met her eyes and she gave the short introduction.

"Ladies and gentlemen… we are Goya."

Just like they'd planned. Right after the introduction they would burst into one of their faster songs. This, like they had planned, fired up the crowd. Chiwa though, was anything but fired up. She really didn't like singing, especially for this crowd of humans. The same species that took away her father and uncle. She found it easier to fill her voice with hatred. She only did these gigs with her stepbrother because it could provide their mother with money. Well, Chiwa's stepmother.

Her lineage is somewhat confusing, but it went like this. Chiwa was born from two ghouls. Her mother left her with her father and her father remarried a human. Once her father died she was left with the stepmother. The stepmother remarried to another human. This is where she met her new stepbrother who is unaware that she is a ghoul.

And here she now was. Letting her magnificent, hate-filled voice loose. She wasn't sure if it came from being a ghoul. That was a high possibility since it made people mistake her age for being in the twenties. She was sixteen.

After their set they simply walked off stage. In the back room they congratulated each other with high-fives, punches to the arm, and smack-talk. All of the older band mates indulged in alcohol.

"Hey Chiwa! *hick* Here have a sip." The bassist asked dangling a bottle from his hand.

"Haha, no way!" it was obvious that he was already buzzed, "I'm underage moron!"

"Haha! Whatever."

The door cracked open and the good times halted.

"Oh, Miss Mukai?"

"Y-yes?" Her eyes scanned the visitors.

The intruders were male and female CCG investigators.

"If we could get a few words with you alone, we'd greatly appreciate that."

Chiwa eyed the female investigator and before she herself could respond, her brother spoke up.

"Hey why'd you guys have to ruin our good time? As you can see we don't care about your imaginary monster hunt." Alcohol seemed to make him more confrontational.

"It's fine, cool down bro."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I'll meet you guys at the bar next door."

The total number of people in the room went down to three.

"So? What is it you guys need? Actually I'd like to have some names to your faces."

"No problem." a smile sprang to the female investigators face, "I'm Azumi Kirisawa."

She turned to the other investigator who had seemed to be dozing off.

"Oh yeah. And I'm Jack Itsuki."

"Of course… Now we can start out with a couple questions first. If it's fine with you?" Azumi Kirisawa asked.

"Hey Kirisawa I'd think it'd be alright if we just went straight to scanning her."

"We've got to follow protocol Jackie."

"It's been a long night."

Chiwa watched as they went back and forth. Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked on.

"Alright, alright. We'll just scan her."

Jack Itsuki pulled out an ordinary looking body scanner from within his coat.

"I don't have a gun on me if that's what this is about."

"Ah. Haha this is no ordinary scanner. This one scans a person's body for RC cells." Jack replied.

"I think you're giving away too much." Azumi said disappointedly.

"Alright then come on. Scan me." Chiwa spread her arms out as if for a pat down.

"No, you don't need to do that," Jack referred to her spread out arms, "whatever here."

The scanner was handed to Azumi.

To be fair, Azumi and Jack held quite a dangerous job. They had to come within feet of suspected ghouls in order to scan them. Chiwa figured this out quickly and knew that she could take this advantage to attack the tired investigators.

Azumi Kirisawa approached Chiwa hastily minding the wooden coffee table and leading with the scanner in her hand.

Jack leaned back against the door not expecting anything out-of-the-ordinary from the young girl.

Chiwa felt her body tense.

The scanner was raised and Azumi was in arm's reach.

That's when it happened. The scanner beeped for a moment and Chiwa released her koukaku kagune. She swung at Azumi from the side and she only had a small moment to react. She flung herself backwards onto the coffee table and released her whiplash-like quinque at Chiwa.

Chiwa used her koukaku to deflect the attack, then proceeded to swing it down on Azumi, who was still on the coffee table.

Azumi brought her own quinque in front of her to block the heavy, hammer-like kagune. Her quinque withstood the force but the coffee table didn't and she was sent through it onto the ground.

By this time Jack had already opened his sword-like quinque and was excited for the action. He brought the quinque around him and swung at Chiwa.

She stepped back, but not before being slashed by the disregarded it as her regenerative abilities were exceptional

Azumi took the opportunity to roll off of the broken table and take an offensive stance beside Jack.

At that moment the quarrel was interrupted, or rather, heightened, when another women entered the room and quickly attacked the investigators.

Chiwa saw her room for escape and took it. She reached for her guitar case and grabbed for it. But, she didn't grab anything. Actually, she couldn't grab anything as there was nothing there for her to grab with. A stump of her former hand just bled onto the leather case.

She snapped out of it quickly and grabbed it with her other hand, then threw herself out of the large, single-pane window. She rushed down the alley way leaving behind a heated fight.

After running with her guitar for an hour, she slouched down in another alley, behind a dumpster. Sitting, she took the moment to look at her hands. Her right hand, her strumming hand, was fine. But her left hand, her fret hand, was gone.

She had remembered being hit by the male investigators quinque, but she wrote that wound off as something that would heal in a matter of seconds. This, this was something else.

Out of the shadows, from deeper in the alley, a figure approached her.

"You need something? Someone? Some work?"

Characters:

**Kira Lilya Pietrikova (Unknown4682)**

**Age: **15

**Bio: **The pride of the Osaka National Ballet, she is secretly a ghoul. A dangerous one to be quite honest.

**Jack Itsuki (InariKurenai)**

**Age: **24

**Bio: **This tall investigator is very lazy. If there's work to be done, he'd rather not be doing it. Despite this he's very skilled in combat. He's rumored to have beaten a SS-rank ghoul while sleeping. He never officially denied it.

**Azumi Kirisawa (leena1445)**

**Age: **18

**Bio: **Born in Kyoto, this investigator has sworn to rid humanity of all ghouls. She may seem cheerful and happy on the outside, but there is definitely more to her.

**Chiwa Mukai (Jayut) -me**

**Age: **16

**Bio: **Considering her life's circumstances it shouldn't be a surprise that she has a great hatred for humans. Spare a few like her brother and step-mother. Considering recent events she won't be seeing them any time soon.

**A/N:**

The Alternative to Alternative is over. This arc title is not as blatant as the last one, or at least I hope, and I'll leave the meaning of it for all of you to find out.

The next arc will introduce a few more characters along with some warning signs of things to come. So be on the look out.


	9. Delusions Part 1

Delusions: Part 1

Once Nao had put on his black windbreaker and jeans, he left his apartment and headed in the direction of that warehouse. Though it was well into the afternoon, the sun and sky were still shrouded with clouds; dark-gray ones. If it were to rain, the hood on his jacket would suffice. Nao wasn't the type to carry an umbrella, in fact, Nao didn't even own an umbrella. He only found one recently in his new apartment, most likely a gift from his dear cousin.

Though the apartment was nice, and very well furnished, Nao had difficulty adapting to it. No, rather than adapting, he had trouble being comfortable in there. The problem all lied in the roommate brought to him, again, by his dear cousin.

Nao believed her to be very pretty. If it weren't for the danger she brought him and the awkwardness of the interactions they had, maybe he could admire her beauty. Nao just had a lot on his mind.

Having found the warehouse Nao walked up to the big, red door. He stood there, a bit unsure of what he needed to do to get in.

Was there a secret knock? A password? Nao was too introverted to find out.

He didn't stand around long as a young kid poked his head out of the window. The kid then motioned for him to go around the side of the building. He even started mouthing it out for him.

'ar-ou-nd id-iot go ar-ou-nd to the side do-or'

That's what the kid said.

Around the side of the warehouse Nao found a much smaller wooden door. It creaked open as Nao entered.

Oddly, the room wasn't much quiet. People were whispering to each other. Some looked eager and some looked bored. Actually, the more Nao looked, the more he realized how many people there were. There had to have been thrice as much as there was when Nao first came here.

All of the whispers were brought to a stop as a loud voice boomed through the building.

"Listen up!"

The voice belonged to a small girl high up on a cat walk. Her long black hair was dangling in the air as she leaned over the railing.

"We've got some important things to say. Listen up, especially those scratching for some action."

The "We" must have been referring to the other girl next to the loud one. This girl looked quite like Will. But it wasn't obviously. This person was dressed like a girl, makeup too. So it couldn't have been Will… right? The person was far away so Nao blamed the uncertainty on his eyesight.

"Those that come her on the daily might have noticed something off."

Again, Nao was surprised to hear such a loud voice coming from the small girl. It wasn't like she was screaming either, she was just projecting her voice.

"Jinyu has been missing… We need to know when someone last saw him. People that come here early or those who actually stay here should know."

The room seemed to buzz again. Nao clearly had no idea what happened to this Jinyu guy. Who could he have been anyways? With so many people, one missing shouldn't matter.

"Um- a-" a small boy near Nao looked as if he had something to say. No one heard him though.

"You know what happened to this Jinyu guy?" Nao asked.

The child merely nodded.

Nao looked towards the girl on the catwalk and shouted, "Hey! I think this kid has something to say!"

Somehow his voice managed to reach her, "Alright, let's hear what he has to say."

The kid spoke up, but his voice was too soft to penetrate the noise in the building.

A little irritated the black-haired girl spoke again, "He isn't loud enough. You. Speak for him."

She was referring to Nao. After a second he realized and bent down to the kid so he could hear what he was saying.

Nao repeated what came out of the child's mouth.

"He says that he sleeps here. Since he has no where to go he just stays around. He saw Jinyu leave the warehouse just before the sun came up. He also saw someone else, a kid a year older than him run up to Jinyu before and say something to him scaredly. Then Jinyu left with the kid."

"What did the kid say to Jinyu?" The girl asked.

Nao went back down to the child, "Keiichirou hasn't been around so maybe he's missing. He used to hang around with the boy that ran up to Jinyu. Maybe Jinyu went to look for Keiichirou?"

"Alright. That's somewhere to start." she looked over to the other girl behind her and talked to her quietly.

After small deliberation between the two, the loud one spoke again, "We'll have some people look into it. In the mean time everyone needs to sit tight."

Hopefully this wouldn't take long Nao thought. He leaned against the wall and noticed the quiet boy sitting next to him.

"What's your name?" Nao asked.

"Uh, Kayako." the boy spilled out.

"Nice name. Mine's Nao by the way."

"Oh. Hi Nao, thanks for earlier." the boy sounded like a mouse.

"I've been meaning to find out myself, but I guess I'll ask you. Who's Jinyu?"

"You don't know who Jinyu is!?" the mouse squeaked.

"No. I'm new here." Nao was a little sad at the boy's disappointment.

"He brought me here. He's the one in charge when the boss isn't here. He looks like you but bigger."

The boss must have been the loud lady on the catwalk and Jinyu was the guy from yesterday. Of course. That made sense.

Nao sat there with the kid listening to him about Goya. The kid had just told him the name. After a while the boss came out onto the catwalk once again.

"Jinyu has been captured. Yes, somehow they were able to get him."

The room looked surprised. What kind of ghoul was Jinyu that everyone looked surprised to hear that he had been captured.

"He's most likely in the 'big house'. Of course we're going to break him out of there, we just need some time and planning."

Nao asked the boy next to him about the 'big house'.

"It's the biggest ghoul prison in Japan."

He figured that's all he'd get from the kid, besides the loud girl continued speaking.

"As of now. The only thing everyone needs to do is lay low. No more causing trouble as well as recruiting any more people."

The girl left the catwalk, which the Goya members took as a dismissal. Some ghouls hung around in small circles talking while others left. Some with others, some by themselves.

Nao had left by himself and headed to Dōtonbori. Moto had messaged him during the time he was waiting in the warehouse. The meeting place was again at the Minami Orange Sushi Bar, though Nao was told to enter through the back door this time.

Nao found the alleyway in which he could get into the back of the restaurant. The door was lit be a small light hanging above it. There were multiple locks. Nao knocked on the door and the peephole slid open. A pair of dark blue eyes peered at him.

"Kamakari?" Nao asked.

The peephole slid shut and the locks on the door were disengaged. The door swung open and a girl around Nao's height stepped out.

"Great my shift's over now that you're here." she brushed her short, black tousled hair from her face.

"So they had you wait for me at the back door? I hope you didn't wait too long."

"You did. For recompensation you'll have to take me out for lunch, maybe tell me more about that cousin of yours."

Nozomi Kamakari, she worked at the sushi bar before Nao moved to Osaka. It was no secret that she harboured a small crush on Nao's older cousin Moto. Nao figured it was Moto's mysteriousness that enticed her.

"I don't know much about him either so there's not a lot I can tell ya."

She walked away and waved goodbye to him behind her back, the red strands in her hair shone dimly from a nearby light. It was true, Nao didn't know much about Moto. All he did know was from his childhood. Moto and his current affairs were unknown to him.

With that in mind, Nao entered the restaurant and headed to the usual private room. Sure enough there was Moto.

"Ah! How has it been Nao? Because you're late, this meeting will have to be quick."

"Yeah, sorry about that," he knew Moto didn't like excuses but this one may prove to be useful information, "something happened today with the gang of ghouls and I was stuck in the warehouse for a while."

"Really, what happened?" Moto seemed slightly interested.

"One of they're, uh higher ups I guess, was captured. His name was Jinyu and we were gathered in the warehouse until they figured things out." Nao explained.

"Was it the CCG that caught him?"

"They were saying that he was taken to the 'big house' supposedly the biggest ghoul prison in Japan, so it was probably the CCG."

"Then they must have been speaking of Penjara." Moto answered suredly.

"Penjara? That's the name? What kind of prison is it anyways." Nao asked.

Moto seemed a bit reluctant to answer him.

Seeing his reluctance Nao spoke, "They're planning to break him out. I'll probably have to join them in the whole thing."

Still reluctant Moto answered, "There was a large prison breakout thirty years ago in Tokyo. Fearing the same result, Penjara was heavily... upgraded. Instead of a huge complex upwards, they built downwards. No noticeable roof, the place was basically buried except for a few entrances."

"Thanks for the info."

A smile appeared on Moto's face, "Alright that will be one-fifty."

"Wait I thought it was a favor." Nao said worried.

"It was. But anyways, the reason I called you here in the first place was to inform you of a change. From now on, you'll drop off a report at my offices every Wednesday. You know where it is right?"

"Yeah."

Nao had felt upset over the recent news. He hardly turned in homework, now he'd have to fill out a weekly Goya report

* * *

Characters:

**Nao Nakajima (PassItOn)**

**Age:** 16

**Bio: **Nao is Moto's cousin who's fairly new to Osaka. He attends school with his friend Yumi and watches a bit too much boxing. He's considered a 'boxing otaku' at school and hardly gets enough sleep because of it. He's joined a gang of ghouls to relay information to his cousin and info-broker, Kanie Moto. Recently it's been noted that his kagune is deformed.

**Kanie Moto (Jayut)-me**

**Age: **25

**Bio:**Little is known about this young info broker. He has ties to Oshiro which almost seem like a debt.

**Nozomi Kamikiri (BeryllSnake)**

**Age:19**

**Bio: **An art student who works part-time at the Minami Orange Sushi Bar. With a dark past behind her, she wishes to live a peaceful life.

**Aika Ito (Jayut)**

**Age:** 16

**Bio: **The now former pop idol is on the run from the CCG and regular law-enforcement. Her attitude is bleak as she feels like she's lost everything. She has been entrusted into the care of Kanie Moto by Ryota Oshiro and Kanie Moto has entrusted her with his cousin Nao Nakajima. They don't get along well. It may also be noted that she drinks loads of coffee.

**Willow (Ruinekys)**

**Age: 17**

**Bio: **Willow prefers to be called by the name Will or William. This is because he doesn't like when people fawn over his skill at drawing manga. He keeps a cheery attitude but tends to act differently when in fights. This was witnessed when his underclassmen Nao was attacked by a group of ghouls. We can also assume that Yumi Arai is a fan of his work. He seems to know more about the young gang of ghouls than he lets on.


	10. Delusions Part 2

Delusions: Part 2

Having left Moto, Nao was on his way home. He walked with a steady pace through the streets as the night came alive. Those gray clouds from before seemed to have gone, as stars were visible in the sky. At the least a few stars were visible Nao thought; the city lights shone out the majority.

When he arrived to his apartment he heard chatter from inside. He didn't suspect anything and had only thought that he had left the television on. That expectation was about to be shattered.

Inside his apartment he heard the voice of two girls, one familiar and the other new.

He slowly walked into the living room to see Aika sitting across the komatsu from Caitlyn. They were talking over a cup of coffee as Caitlyn spotted him.

Having stopped the conversation and following Caitlyn's eyes, Aika turned to see the stunned Nao and only had to offer an 'oops'.

His first thought of the noise being the television wasn't incorrect, because the television was on. It was just being viewed by two girls, one of whom shouldn't have made contact with any person, let alone another ghoul.

This situation could land Nao in lots of trouble with various people.

The redhead stood up, "Nao you playboy!"

Her finger was pointed at him accusingly.

"Living with another woman!" Caitlyn acted this out dramatically.

"Huh..." he was shaken from his initial shock, "no-it's nothing like that!"

"Save your breath I explained the situation to her." The former quiet ghoul shot at Nao.

"Still what is she doing here!" He pointed at Caitlyn who was hysterical with laughter.

"She broke in." Aika deadpanned.

"Broke in?!"

"Hahaha! It is true." Caitlyn announced triumphantly.

"H-how?! And why!?" Nao exclaimed.

"Before, I didn't trust you. I didn't know what you wanted from Yumi so I decided to investigate."

"Investigate? You mean 'break in'?" he questioned.

"Yeah. I just jacked one of the keys from the reception office."

After Caitlyn spoke the room came down from its frantic state. He then enforced a more serious tone.

"Caitlyn, have you told anyone?" He questioned.

"Nope. After I found out I've just been hanging out here with Aika-tama." She said as straight-faced as him.

"Do you realize what's at stake here?"

"Multiple organizations of ghouls and the doves knockin at your door."

The serious attitude persisted as Nao continued questioning.

"Are you sure if anyone may have seen you break-in?"

"Please, I don't do break-ins with audiences around."

Their stares pierced at each other like thin, sharp threads.

"Fine. As long as this doesn't get out of hand." Nao said these words but knew things probably _would_ get out of hand.

"No problemo!" A cheerful yet mischievous smile appeared on Caitlyn's face.

And with that smile the serious mood in the room fell and Nao joined them at the komatsu.

"Would you like some coffee?" Caitlyn offered.

"Yeah sure!" Nao answered quite delighted until he realized it was his own coffee they dug into.

Caitlyn strolled to the kitchen to brew said coffee leaving Nao and Aika alone at the komatsu.

Aika turned an annoyed look at Nao. After noticing her stare, he turned to her half as annoyed.

"What?" he asked.

"Don't treat me like an object."

"What?" he asked again.

"I'm more than capable of taking care of myself so quit treating me like an object. Your whole attitude about my situation is patronizing." Aika spoke sternly.

"Treating you like an object? Patronizing?" he, again, asked.

"Alright you two!" Caitlyn had returned, "Couple's therapy starts now!"

"Don't even go there." Aika's piercing gaze shifted towards Caitlyn.

"Yeah what the hell." Nao added.

The three's conversation went back and forth across the komatsu. They went between highs and lows until the conversation hit a lull and Nao was reminded of something.

"Oh! There's matches on tonight!" he reached for the remote and flipped through channels.

"Matches?" Caitlyn asked

"Yeah, boxing matches. I've already missed thirty minutes. Hopefully I've only missed some of the preliminary matches."

"Oh gosh," Aika said distastefully, "Moto told me about this."

The night went on.

Caitlyn left to go to her apartment on the floor below, Aika went to the bedroom to go to bed, and Nao was left alone watching the Saturday night boxing matches.

He soon fell asleep under the komatsu.

On that same Saturday night loomed more secret arrangements.

Secret arrangements made in a familiar small office.

An office right, left, and another right down an alleyway in Namba, Osaka.

"...that's the situation. Will you take this work?"

"... yes..."

"Alright. Then tomorrow, Koizumi, you'll start shadowing Nao Nakajima."

Characters:

**Nao Nakajima (PassItOn)**

**Age:** 16

**Bio: **Nao is Moto's cousin who's fairly new to Osaka. He attends school with his friend Yumi and watches a bit too much boxing. He's considered a 'boxing otaku' at school and hardly gets enough sleep because of it. He's joined a gang of ghouls to relay information to his cousin and info-broker, Kanie Moto. It's been noted that his kagune is deformed.

**Kanie Moto (Jayut)-me**

**Age: **25

**Bio:**Little is known about this young info broker. He has ties to Oshiro which almost seem like a debt.

**Aika Ito (Jayut)**

**Age:** 16

**Bio: **The now former pop idol is on the run from the CCG and regular law-enforcement. Her attitude is bleak as she feels like she's lost everything. She has been entrusted into the care of Kanie Moto by Ryota Oshiro and Kanie Moto has entrusted her with his cousin Nao Nakajima. They don't get along well. It may also be noted that she drinks loads of coffee.

**Caitlyn Foley (ZorialWater)**

**Age: 19**

**Bio: **Caitlyn is a very bubbly girl whose appearance contradicts her actual age. She works in a manga store in Nipponbashi and is friends with Willow, Yumi Arai, and Nao Nakajima, whom she was recently acquainted with. Nao and Caitlyn both share common friends like Yumi and Willow (and now recently, Aika).

**Yumi Arai (PassItOn)**

**Age: **16

**Bio: **Yumi is a human and has recently moved to Osaka. Her social awkwardness and envy she receives from the other girls keeps her from having a lot of friends. It has recently been discovered that she reads yaoi manga, but not how frequently. She also lives in the same apartment building as Nao. One of her friends, apart from Nao, is Caitlyn Foley. Unbeknownst to her both of her only friends are ghouls.

**A/N:**

Late updates due to school. Rest assured that I have no plans of dropping this _as of now_.


End file.
